FLASH! GOOD NEWS AT THE CHA!

The Chicago Housing Authority`s crackdown on squatters and violence in the Rockwell Gardens high-rise buildings on the West Side drew deserved praise nationwide.

It certainly fits any definition of news: Man bites dog. Sears sells Sears Tower. Something good happens at the CHA.

And the good news of Rockwell Gardens does not appear to be a fleeting phenomenon. New CHA Chairman Vince Lane and his expert team of civic-minded volunteers and top-quality consultants are making progress in reversing nearly three decades of bad management, corruption and political exploitation of Chicago`s public housing.

Most of the changes have been made with little fanfare, but their consequences can be dramatic.

Lane`s administration is radically different because he got the CHA job in a radically different manner. Unlike his predecessors, he was not handpicked by a mayor determined to squeeze every possible job, vote and contract out of public housing. He was recommended to Mayor Sawyer by a civic coalition put together by the Metropolitan Planning Council and led by lawyer George Ranney because of his background in business and housing management, and his work on the planning council`s CHA study group.

Mayor Sawyer, to his great credit, bought the civic coalition`s reform agenda and its chosen leader, developer Vince Lane.

Civic and corporate involvement has helped public housing in other cities, but never before in Chicago. Previous administrations in City Hall and the CHA didn`t want that kind of interference. Lane and Ranney, though, have aggressively recruited it. As a result, the destitute CHA has been bolstered in recent weeks with grants from private foundations and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and with volunteer help from Chicago-based legal, financial and management firms. Experts who were instrumental in the turnaround of public housing in other cities are coming here as part-time consultants.

With these new resources, Lane has engineered an overhaul of key departments and instituted a number of financial reforms. For example, the CHA now saves money by buying natural gas at the wellhead.

The most significant changes, though, may be those that directly affect the day-to-day lives of public housing tenants. To do this, Lane has reshuffled managers from one development to another-the quickest way to spot the most effective ones. He wrestled control over various CHA projects away from the tangled downtown bureaucracy and placed it in the hands of on-site managers who are supposed to make certain that vacant apartments are promptly filled with qualified tenants, not invading gangs.

It`s still too early to proclaim victory for these changes. And even if they succeed, much more needs to be done before the CHA becomes a responsible landlord to 145,000 responsible tenants. Lane`s agenda for the next several months reflects the huge job ahead: a tough new screening process for prospective tenants, an inspector general to spot the sluggards and the thieves who for years have been imbedded in the CHA work force, and a central warehouse to keep close watch over supplies.

Lane also has shown a refreshing attitude toward CHA tenants. He feels they should be encouraged, not just allowed, to take charge of their homes. With an assist from Sen. Alan Dixon, he won a $288,000 federal grant for training tenant managers in three CHA projects-Cabrini-Green, LeClaire Courts and Dearborn Homes. That new grant is significant for another reason; for the first time in more than a decade, Chicago`s public housing authority has a good working relationship with the U.S. Housing and Urban Development officials who control the pursestrings.

After years of broken pledges from one new CHA administration after another, Chicagoans are understandably skeptical of any new CHA chairman who promises miracles. Lane doesn`t count on miracles, but he does believe things will get better. And so far, they have.